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“God, that’s awful.”

His smile was short. “You’re telling me.”

“I almost hate to ask about the second woman.”

“That’s easy. She was simply a pathological liar. In the end, she cried her eyes out and told me she needed therapy. She didn’t know how or why she lied so much and didn’t know how to stop it.”

“Have mercy.”

“I hoped for it.”

“What, mercy?”

He nodded.

“I decided it was best for me to…how’d you put it? Do my own thing?”

Carla nodded. She had to wonder if that’s why he was careful with her, why he seemed to be so inconsistent when it came to them getting together previously.

“Well, since we’re both doing our own thing, what do you say we do it together?”

“Promise me something, Carla.”

She perked up, her chin rising as she waited for him to finish.

“You’ll always be upfront with me. Though we’re not in a relationship, honesty in dating is just as important. That’s all that I ask.”

“Wait, are we dating?”

He smiled. “Carla Jones, would you consider dating me?”

“Just skip to the marriage proposal—you know you want to.”

He laughed as she snickered. Leaning forward, Jacob slid his hand across the table, and Carla met his fingers halfway. A charging electric current scattered through their palms as their hands joined.

“Nothing too serious. A light, getting-to-know-one-another agreement filled with honesty and possibilities.” He rubbed her fingers with the pad of his thumb. “What do you say?”

“I say I do.”

They laughed again, and he shook his head and lifted her hand to his mouth for a warm kiss.

Chapter Eight

Over the next few days, Carla and Jacob spoke regularly on the phone. That was before the hustle and bustle of the new week and going back to school entered the rotation.

Carla had to admit, having Jacob’s attention felt like drinking a cool glass of water. It quenched her thirst, and he was easy to talk to. She never felt so relaxed before, so in tune with a conversation like listening to him talk about growing up with his brothers and messing with his younger sisters.

“So, wait, you actually put a banana peel down on the floor, and Phoebe slipped on it?”

They laughed that entire conversation.

“She was so serious all of the time. As a child, she practiced being an attorney—using her dolls as the jury and a teddy bear as the judge. I felt like she should loosen up a bit, so I played games on her and Eden and Jasmine constantly.”

Carla couldn’t believe it, but she imagined them in the household screaming and fussing at him while he laughed and got away with it. Growing up without siblings, Carla did want to know what it was like to have those connections. However, her homegirls had come to fill that gap, and for that, she was thankful.

Now, as she stood behind her desk, Carla went about getting the lesson plan for the day prepared, but thoughts of Jacob lingered, and every so often, she would smile and stare off into space.

“Oh,man, are those the new Jordans?”